Amusement device



. Se t." 9 1924.

1,508,319 R. M. HARRIS musrzmuzm DEVYICE Filed June 6. 1923 2 Shoots-Shoot l I/VVEIVTOR 12.1% ji'arrie Bra ATTORNEYS l a M V I l I Sept. 9 1924.

1,508,319 R. M. HARRIS Filed Jun? 6, 1923 2 Shuts- Shoat 2 lAll/E/VTOR I WITNESSES Q IO 7 Q Harr 5; M4

A TTORNE V5 Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

REGI ALD'MJ Healers, ornlisrioithnenj-lvnwannsmrt AMUSEMENT EVICES- Y Application *filed' June 6,:

To all .whom"z't-- may concern B it known that 1,; REGINALD a citizen of the United States; and aresident.

of East Orange, in the-county of Essex and State of --New-"Jersey,-- have invented {anew and Improved;Amusement'Devi of which the iollowing fis al full, cl ,pexact scription.

, Thepresentin vention relates to new 'iand useful improvements in amusement Y devices, i

andeit pertains more particnlarlvto that type oi devices known as pleasure railways.

It is an obj'ect of [the invention to provide a new and improvediorm of pleasure railwayink-which the element of, competition enters into the operation of the "pleasure railway. i

It is a further object of the: invention to provide a pleasure railway in the nature ofig-a Ftrackway having aV- vehicle dior travel thereover the vehicle being so constructed ,i ormed with ,a loop 9 and a gate or sWitchover- 10 controls, the-f;entrance anol'exit 'v 192a;- Serial nozlcis' ez; 1. v

suitable safetyidevices 1 7 :(not forming a-part of this particular invention) and-With suite; -ablechain-hoistsfiS, by; means of whichzthe track at the curve. onthe left hand side Fig-1 11. The tracks are constructedwitlivehicles {may be drawn up an inclined sur face, by gmechanica-l means The tracks are thereofp :7 l

Referring to F it Will bese'en j-tllatthe trackwa'y comprises verticalst'anchions 12 and; cross beams, 13. 4 These cross beams 13 support 5 the trackway 114, which may be formed or ood or otherfsuitable m-aterial; and carried by the; trackvvay 14 are tracks: orthe; like, 15, formed of sheet]- metal; These-f a tracks 15 are fiat-and have no =raised-or de- .pressed portions, the purpose of employing that theskill' of its occupant enters largely into the operation of the vehicle over the travel-over the vtrackway at a greater :rate

Ibis afurther' object of the invention- -ito,

construct the trackwayand vehicle so thatone-{operator possessing .more skill than an-j other, may cause his vehicle; to advance or of speed than the vehicle controlled by an operator of less skill.- k 1 4 t With the: above and other obj ects in View referen'ceis had to the accompanying draw ings vvhiehiare more orless of a diagrammatic nature, and in Wl1llCl1-+ 1 is: a top .planviewshowing diagrammat cally jaconventional to'rm of pleas,

construction ure railwayzwith-a track of the improved Fig.12v1s a-transverse sectional view of a section pf: track showing the construction thereof and the co-operating structure of the vehicle which travels over thesaid track.

these flat. tracks being to perm-it'of lateral:-

movement} eta-the vehicle relative to; the

trackvvay 1fl.;; t i a The referencecharacter 161 designates-the vehicle; said-vehicle is provided 'tvith" Wheels-17, the treads ofavhich are fiat-,thus' facilitating glateral' movement of the vehicle;

Wheels of the vehicle, are mountedin steer Lingknuckles 18,-and the steeringknucklesare adapted to-be controlled by one ofithe occupants of the vehicle, by'asteering mech- These heels {17 in the case ofthe front q anism;, ,not forming a part {of the present in- F igai? is QJ VlBW illustrating diagram;

rnaticallfya side elevationof thetracln Referring more particularly .to the draw-t ings thedevice comprises two tracks Sand 6, the tracks ,beingwso arranged that' theyv are'of substantially the same lengthg vthat cated; on;the- ,;inside-,,at the-right-hand' of verition, and; therefo're,-;not illustrated herein I I The stanchioiisil Q"carryfsiderails or the like, 19, supported upon brackets 20,- and the side rails 19 may or may not be provided V ducin-g element or surface. The a vehicle I carries side rails 22,;and the-{siderails22 are so positioned WltlLFGSPQCljtO ithe vehicle on the trackway, that they Willtbe alltimes juxtaposed jWlthlElMf/lOn to theside Referring again to the; lZIZl-GkWfi-Yy it Will be noteclthatgat'the curved portions thereof, I such as; indicated by the reference charactev 30, 1the; trackway is comparatively narrow way leaves the curvedportions'30, however;-

-} anfdoii such size that the vehicle will engage is, it Will be noted that the tracki 6 is lo-,-

it will be noted that the same widens as indicated by the reference character 32 and forms broadened portions 33 throughout the major portion of the straight sections of the trackway. It is at one of these stations that the sectional view (Fig. 2) has been taken, and it will be apparent that with the vehicle in this position on the trackway, there is a space between each of the rails 22 carried by the vehicle and its respective rail 19 carried by the trackway. This space will permit of lateral movement of the vehicle between the rails 19.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that each trackway comprises a slightly declined section 40 leading to a sharply inclined section 41. having a chain hoist heretofore mentioned. The inclined section 41 leads into a curved section 30 heretofore mentioned, and from the curved section 30 the trackway declines abruptly, as indicated by the reference character 42. From this declined section 42, the trackway runs into an inclined section 43 having a chain hoist 8 heretofore mentioned, and the inclined section 43 leads to another curved portion 30, and leading from this curved portion 30 is a declined section 44, which in turn leads to an inclined section 45, having a chain hoist 8 heretofore mentioned, and said inclined section 45 leads to another curved portion 30 heretofore mentioned. Leading from the curve 30 last mentioned is a declined section 46, and from this declined section 46 the trackway leads to an inclined section 47, having a chain hoist 8 heretofore mentioned, and said trackway leads from there into a curved portion 30, which in turn leads into the first-mentioned curved section 40.

The foregoing is a description of each of the tracks, and it is understood that in building the pleasure railway there will be two or more such tracks of substantially equal length, and they will be so laid as to occupy positions one alongside the other in. such a manner that two vehicles each traveling over its own track, will constitute a ride in the nature of a competition race between the vehicles.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The vehicle is started down the inclined section 40 and is engaged by the chain hoist 8 on the inclined section 41 and is carried to the top of the inclined section 41. As the hoist releases the vehicle, the same travels around the curved portion 30 and down the inclined section 42. The transverse dimension of this section 42 is greater than the transverse dimension of the curved portion 80, and thus as the vehicle moves down the section 42, the same is capable of lateral movement with respect to the track. If, now, the occupant in the vehicle having control thereof steers the vehicle in such a manner that its side rails 22 will be free tion due to contact of the rails 22 with the rails 19, and thus the vehicle which is more accurately steered, will gather more momentum and will travel farther up the next succeeding inclined track section before it is engaged by the chain hoist thereof.

As the vehicles travel throughout the course, it is apparent that the vehicle which is more accurately steered will be in advance of that vehicle which is not so accurately steered, and, consequently, the winning of the race between the two vehicles will be the reward for accuracy and ability in steering, thus making a competitive ride on a pleasure railway constructed in accordance with this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a pleasure railway, a trackway, a vehicle having steering means, and frictionproducing elements permitting of a travel of the vehicle without producing friction when the vehicle is steered in a direction parallel therewith.

2. In a pleasure railway, a trackway, a vehicle for travel thereon, friction-producing elements carried by the trackway, and friction-producing elements carried by the vehicles and so arranged with respect to the friction-producing elements of the trackway that the vehicle may be steered through the friction-producing elements of the trackway without engagement therewith of the friction-producing elements of the vehicle.

3. An amusement apparatus including a track, a vehicle adapted to travel on said track, co-engaging vehicle-retarding means associated with the track and vehicle respectively, and manually controlled means associated with the vehicle and operable to steer the vehicle oversaid track without engagement of said co-engaging vehicle-retarding means.

4. A pleasure railway including a track, a dirigiblevehicle for travel thereon, vehicleretarding means disposed along the track and engageable by movement of the car laterally of the track, and manually controlled steering means for the vehicle operable for steering the vehicle clear of said retarding means.

5. In a pleasure railway, a starting station, a finish station, a pluraliy of com plementary tracks connecting said starting and finish stations, a vehicle for travel over each of said tracks, vehicle-impeding elements associated with said tracks, and a steering mechanism associated with said vehicles whereby they may be guided over their respective tracks to avoid said impeding elements.

6. In a pleasure railway, a trackway, a

10 vehicle for travel longitudinally of said trackway, vehicle-impeding elements associated with the trackway and adapted to be engaged by the vehicle in its lateral movement, and steering means for the vehicle whereby it may be guided over the track- 7 waywith a minimum of lateral movement to avoid engagement of the vehicle with the vehicle-impeding elements.

REGINALD M. HARRIS. 

